Starting mechanism.



STARTING MECHANISM.

APPLrcAmN FILED AUGJQ, 1912".

Patehted June 12, 19V?.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Unrrnn smania@ seien.

' ALLEN LOOMIS, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, SSEGNUR TO EACKARD MOTOR CAB. COMPANY,

OF DETROIT,A MICILG-LN, A CORPORATION' GF IVIXCHIGAN.

STARTNG MECHNISM.

andparticularly to a. starting n'iechanisin therefor. One embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings which form a part of'lthis application, and it includes a vehicle having a` vhydrocarbon motor mounted .at its forward end', a friction clutch, an electric starting motor, a shifter mechanism, and "arious control connections and circuits.

, 'i Oncof the objects of the invention is to improve upon previous structures of a similar nature and to produce a construction that will be more simple,.more certain in action, and better protected. Various other objects will appear from the following description, taken in connection with the drawings, in which,

Figure l is a side elevation of the forward part of a motor vehicle;showing the inventio embodied therein, together with a diagranumitic illustration of the electric circuits 1i`ig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. l, the circuits being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the shifter vmechanism and its housing Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the movable parts in another position, and a p art of the casing in elevation;

. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the shifter mechanism with the casing cover ren'ioved;

Figs and 7 are detail views. yReferring to thev drawii'igs, the side mem- 'bers `ofthe vehicleframe are indicated at lOvand one of the cross members at 1l, and upon this frame a six-cylinder motor l2 is supported, at the rear by the arms 13 and at the forward end by-any suitablel means, not shown in the drawings.

The motor consists of the supporting base or-erank case lt, upon which are mounted the cylinders 15, shown as cast in pairs. The motorcrank shaft is operated by thc pis# tons andconnecting rods and has a liy wheel 1G secured to its rear end, and at its forward endit is suitably geared to a cam shaft t7. which is inclosed in the crank case and operates the valve ,lifters 18.` The eX- Speccation of Letters Patent.

Application filed August i9, 191%.

Patented June 12, 1917..

serial No. 715,951.

haust cams 19'are shown as formed with auxiliary rises 2O which are adapted to be brought into action by the endwise movement of the cam shaft for the purpose of raising the exhaust valves slightly on the compression stroke of the motor to relieve the conipression in the cylinders drning starting.

The cam shaft may be moved endwisc by any suitable mechanism such as that illustrated in detailv in Fig. (3. This shows the cam shaft 1T with its gear 21 secured to its forward end by bolts 2L, which also secure the. outer ring of a radial ball bearing 23, to the shaft. A pin ist is connected to the inner race of the bearing 23, so that the cam shaft may be moved in or out by operating this pin Z-t, even though the cam shaft is revolving. Means for operating the pin 2 will be hereinafter described.

Suitably geared to the crank shaft to be driven at substantially crank shaft speed, as through the cam shaft gear 21, is an auxiliary driving shaft 25 which is coupled to the armature shaft 26 of a. motor-generator 2T, shown as rigidly supported on one side of the base or crank case lt of the motor. rlhis shaft 25 may pass through the ignition distributing unit QS and it'may be provided with suitable universal joints or Oldham couplings 2S) to take up slight disalincments. v

Upon reference to Figs. l and Q particularly, it will be seen that the base or crank case 14 of the motor is extended around the tly wheel 1G, forming a support .for the. rear bearing 3() of the clutch 3l, which is mounted in the tly wheel-1(5. This rear extension is also in the form of a housing 32 for the fly wheel and clutch and this housing is enlarged somewhat at. a point adjacent the rear end of the motor-generator 27 forming a housing 33 for certain gears arranged between the mot ngenerator and the fly wheel which will be hereinafter more fully described. rlhe clutch 31 is operated manually through a clutch operating shaft 3st and av pedal lever 35, which extends upwarcly through the foot board 36 of the vehicle in convenient position for the vehicle driver. r"he armature shaft 26 of the motorgenerator 27 extends rearwardly into the :asing 38 and there is a gear 37 mounted thereon which is adapted to mesh with the larger of a pair of sliding gears 38-39 on the stationary shaft 40, supported in the and disassembled, and which retains a pair casing The smaller gear 39 is adapted to mesh with the teeth 41 cut in the Hy wheel 16 at the same time that the gear 38 meshes with the gear 37. Thus when these gears are engaged, a double reduction is obtained between the shaft 26 and the motor crank shaft'so that the motor-generator shaft will rotate say twenty times to one revolution of the motor crank shaft.

Thegear 38 is connected to the gear 39 through a roller clutch of well known con' struction, such as that illustrated in Fig. 7, so that the gear 38 can always drive the gear 39 in a forward d-irection, but the gear 39 may run ahead of the gear 38 as when the motor starts up causing the Hy wheel to rotate faster than it would be rotated by the gear A39, while the gears are in mesh for starting. Of course this occurs only for a moment, as the gears are disconnected by the operator immediately after the motor starts to run under its own power.

Referring to Fig. `7, the internal member 61 is securedto, or is integral with, the gear 39 and the outer member 62 is integral with, or secured to gear 38. The rollers 63 are arranged between the outer cylindrical surface 64 and the inclined surface 65 ,so that 'when the ,external member 62 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, the inner member or gear 39 is carried along with it, but at the same time the inner member 61 or gear 39 may lrotate faster than the gear 38 Without affecting the latter in any way. It will also be understood that a similar roller clutch is arranged in the. forward end of the motori-generator shaft 26 at 26a so that the driving. shaft 25 may always drive the armature forwardly', but the armature may rotate forwardly faster than the shaft 25 or independently of it, this faster rotation of the armature shaft taking place when the motor-generator is used for starting. It is 4believed to be unnecessary to describe in detail the roller clutch 26a, as it is exactly similar in function and may be similar in conf'-l struction to that shown in Fig. 7.

`Suitable means for shifting the sliding gears 38-39 are provided in the form of a shifter rod 42 and a yoke-43, the rod eX- tending rearwardly through the casing to an operating arm 44, keyed or secured to a rock shaft 45, mounted in a casing 46, which supports and houses the gear shifter mechanism, and -which is detachably secured to the casing 32 as by bolts 47.A This casing 46 is .provided with a removable cover 48 by the removal of which the interior mechanism may be inspected and assembled of rectangular blocks 49, arranged in the casing 'as shown `in Figs. 4 and 5, 'to support the trunnions 50 of av pring devid` 51,"more fully hereinafter described.

Inside of the casing 46, the rock shaft 45 has secured to a. square portion thereof, a sleeve 52, having an arm 53 extending radially therefrom towardthe spring device 51, which latter is mounted near the opposite end of the casing. This spring device 51 is in the form of a cylinder mounted to oscillate on trunnions 50, and it contains a plunger 54 pressed outwardly by a spring 55 and having a guiding stem 56 extending through its closed end. This guiding stem 56 is preferably threaded so that a nut may be screwed on to its projecting end forv the pur ose of compressing the spring 55 to assem le the device.

The plunger 54 is formed with a socket 57 with which the spherical head 58 of the arm 53 engages, as will be seen particularly in Fig. 3.

By the arrangement of suitable stops 59 and 60, which may be cast integral with the casing 46, the spring device 51 will yieldingly hold the rock shaft 45 and the parts attached to it, in either of two positions, viz.: that shown in Fig. 3, or that shown in dotted lines at 51a in Fig. 4. If the rock shaft is moved from one of these positions toward the other, it will be evident that it `will snap over the dead center as soon as that point is reached, the reason for this being more clearly set forth hereinafter.

A second arm 66 on the sleeve 52 supports a magnet 67, having terminals 68vwhich are connected by means of Hexible conductors 69 with stationary terminals 70 extending 4through the wall of the casing 46 as shown -particularly in Fig. 5. `AThese fiexible conductors permit the oscillation of the inagnet with rock shaft 45, while maintaining constant'electrical connection with the terminals 70. i

The magnet 67 is adapted to attract and operate a dog 71 pivoted at 72 on a third arm 73 extending radially from the sleeve 52 in the direction approximately opposite to the arm 53. The dog 71 is retained in its normal inoperative position with its adj ustable screw 74 against a stop 75 on the arm 73 by means of a spring 76, and it is moved from' this position -to operative position by the magnet 67. .This dog is shown in its normal inoperative position in Fig. 3 and in its operative .position in Fig. 4. 4

The Arock shaft 45 may be oscillated v.by an operating shaft 77 and an arm 78 secured thereon. The operating shaft 77 is preferably mounted out of line with the rock shaft 45, as shown'inFigs. 3, 4 and 5, so that a slightoscillation of the shaft 77 will cause a somewhat ygreater oscillation of the rock shaft 45 as will be evident from the drawings. The arm 78 is preferably curved, as shown in drawings, to avoid the shaft 45, and its free end is offset forming a lug i i shaft #l is operated only when the magnet 79, which is adapted to travel in its oscillation adjacent the dog; Tl, and the dog' 7l is provided with a lip 80, unde .vhieh the lug- 79 isadapted to eateh when the dog is held inl operative position by the magnet (ST. The extremelower position of' the lug 7S) is shown in full lilies in Fig. 3 and the extreme upper position is shown-in dotted lines at 79"* in Fig. el. rl'he lug` assumes the latter position only when it is free from the dog Tl.

.lt will be understood that when the niagnett? energized and the shaft TT is operated, the' lug 7S) will` ateh the dog 'Tl and earry with it the arm 73 and consequently rook shaft yl5 until it reaches the position shown in full lines in F e. At this moment, the arm and the spring deviee 5l, sting as a toggle joint, are on dead center, and the spring device is about to snapl over and assume the position sl'iovrn in dotted lines at l in Fig. 4f. The springl device Will, of course, carry the arm with it and consequently rock the shaft faster than the lug 7,9 is moving, so that the dog- 7l is carried ahead of the lug' and the lugwill engage the shank 8l of the dog and cause the latter to be foreed away Jfrom the lug, in addi ion to the retraeting action of the spring 7 x rlhis engagement of the lug 79 with theshanlr 8l is 'for the purpose ofpositively releasing the doginstead of depending' eo.- tirely upon the spring,ir 76. By `this arrai'igement it is impossible for the dog to stick in the position shown in Figui.' t-Will be.

further understood that the magnet G7 will have been denergized by the time the reach the position shown in full lines in Fig. l, sov that the spring will presumably act to Withdraw the dog the moment the spring device 5l snaps the rook shaft over dead center. .Y

l t will be seen that the'operating shaft 77 may be ope ated entirely independently or the rook shaft 45 when the magnet 67 is energized as the dog '71 is not then in operative position.

By referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the operating shaft 77 projects through the `Wall of the easing i6 on the side opposite to the rock shaft 45. A flexible connection S2 is provided betvveen the clutch operatingr shaft 34 and the shaft 77, and as shown this Connection is in the form of an Oldham eouplingof suitable design, the shafts 34 and 77 beingI shown in approximate alinement. Thus any slight variations in alinement are taken care of when the easing 46 is see-ered to the eluteh easing 32 and it is not necessary to work to sueh Close limits in manufacture would otherwise be required.

' From the above, it will be obvious that the operating' shaft 77 moves with every oseillation of the clutch shaft 34, but the rook 67 is energized..

in order that the compression relief may be operated at the time el starting the inotor, the pin 2l, is connected to the short arm ot a lever 8f3, pivoted at 8l, and the long arm of said lever is connected by a rod 85 with au oli'set arm/Sli seeured to the shifter rod 42. The rod 85 .is adjustable as by the threaded connection 8T so that the gears SU---ES) and the compression relief may operate together and allowance made for any slight variations in manufacture.

'lhe shifter rod 4t2 is'also adjustably oonneeted with the arm Jr-'l by a threaded eonneetion 58, so that variations in manufao ture may be taken eare of and changes in the position of the eluteh lever may be coinpensated for. lt will be seen that by`having these two adjustments, the relation or' the gears 38H39 to the arm 44 may be ehanged without altering' the position of the gears relative to the Compression relief.

The n'iotor-generator 27 is adapted when operating,r as a generator to produce aeurrent for filling the storage batteries S9 and a controller' 90 normally eonneets these batteries in parallel for charging. vThis eontroller 90 may be of any ordinary type and is operated. by a rod 91, which may be eonneeted by any suitable means (not'shown) with the rod 92, which in turn is ,connected the extremity of the arm 44, sothat it is operated by the rock shafty 45.

Conduetors A and B between the motorgenerator 27 and the controller 90, will be used when the eontroller is in normal position and the motongenerator 27 is Charging Ithe batteries. A conductor C leads from a 'to pass :from the batteries, through the eentroller and through conductor l), switch 93, conductor binding postl 70, magnet (37', the other bindingl post 70, and conductor E to the generator. This will Cause the nu tor-generator to revolve slowly, and as the inaffnetis in series with the generator on the above described circuit, the dog` 71 will be attracted and assume the position shown in full lines in Fig. l. The operator will then diseneaoge the clutch -fl b 1 o )eratino h TS the lever thus operatingl the shafll 77, and the lug` 79 will engage the lip S0 and thereby rock the shaft 45 and the arm ill. Through the rod 42. the gears 3S-2l9 will he mesl'ied with the gears 37 and 4l and the cam shaft 17 will be moved endwise to relieve the compression in the motor cylinders. yThe movement of the arm 44 will also move the controller mechanism 90 through the connecting rods 91 and 92 and the controller'will then connect the four batteries S9 in series instead of in parallel,`

soon as a suitable mixture has been drawn into the motor cylinders, the/motor will start and run under its own power, the roller clutches above described taking care of the differences in speed of the shafts 25 and Q6 and the gears .3S- 39. Also as the motor starts, it will be understood that the driver will rengage the clutch 31 and thus disengage the gears SS--f), this taking place by reason of the fact that the lug 79 e`ngages the outer endv of the arm 73 and pushes the latter back over dead center, so that the rock shaft45 assumes the position shown in full lines in F ig. 3. Also the driver will have previously opened the switch 93, this being done in fact as soon as the lever 35 is operatedto enga-ge the gears 38-39. It will of course be understood that the clutch 3l is "ngaged by the usual heavy spring employed in mctor vehiclel clutches of this character, but not shown in the drawings. understood that all of the connections made by the controller 90 arev not shown in the drawings, as it is believed that they would only be confusing and they do not form a part of applicants invention.

It will be further understood that many modifications ,of the invention as shown, may be made without departing from the scope thereof, and all such modifications are intended to be included within thev terms of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a clutch casing, a clutch therein, andan operating rock shaft for said clutch, of sliding gears, gear shifter mechanism for sliding saidgears, a casing for said mechanism mounted on said yclutch casing, and means connecting said rock shaft and said mechanism.

2., In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a clutch casing, a clutch therein, and an operating rock shaft for said clutch, of sliding gears, gearshifter mechanism including an operating shaft for sliding said gears, a casing for said mechanism mounted on said clutch casing, and a flexible connection from said rock shaft to said operating shaft. f

It will also be 3. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination with a clutch casing, a clutch therein, and an operating rock shaft for said clutch, of sliding gears, gear shifterv lmechanism including an operating shaft for sliding said gears, said shaft being approximately m ahnement w1th said rock shaft, a casing for said mechanism mounted on vsaid clutch casing, and a flexible coupling clutch casing and removable therefrom, and' flexible operating connections between the clutch and the shifter mechanism.

6. In a shifter mechanism, the combina-l tion with an operating shaft, and a rock shaft, of means for rocking said rock shaft from sald operating shaft, an arm on said rock shaft, and a spring device bearing'on the end of said arm and adapted to oscillate with said arm to retain it yieldingly in one or the other of two positions off of dead center.l

7. In a shifter mechanism, ythe combination with an operating sha-ft, and a. rock shaft, of means for rocking said rock shaft from said operatingshaft` an arm' on said rock shaft, and a spring device bearing on the end of said arm and adapted to oscillate with said arm to retain it yieldingly in one or the other of two positions either side of dead center.

S. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft and a rock shaft, arms on saidy shafts, means for connecting said arms for rocking said rock shaft from said operating'shaft, a second arm on said rock shaft extending on the opposite side of said shaft, and a spring device bearing on the end of said second arm to retain the rock shaft yieldingly in one or the other of two positions oil dead center.

9. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft, a rock shaft, and means connecting said shafts for rocking one by the operation of the other, of a spring device adapted to retain the rock shaft yieldingly in one or the other of two positions and comprising a trunnioned support, a spring mounted thereon, and jointed connections between said spring and said rock shaft.

10. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft, a rock shaft,

and means connecting said shafts for rocking one by the operation of the other, of a spring adapted to retain the rock shaft yieldingly in one or the other of two positions and comprising a supporting cylinder trunnioned to oscillate adjacent said rock shaft, a spring within the cylinder, a plunger operating in the cylinder and controlled by said spring and adapted to engage anv arm on said rock shaft. z

l1. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with a rock shaft, of a spring device adapted to retain -the rock shaft yieldingly in one or the other of two positions and com vprising a cylinder, a: spring Within. the cylinder, and a plunger controlled by said spring and projecting through the end of the cylinder, the end of said plunger being threaded whereby said spring may be compressed within the cylinder for assembling the de` vice.

12. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with a rock shaft, 'of a. spring device adaptedto retain the rock shaft yieldingly in one or the other of two positions and comprising a cylinder, a spring within the cylinder, and a plunger controlled by said spring and stops against which said cylinder rests at the extremes of its'movement.

13. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with a casing surrounding the mechanism, a spring device forming part of the mechanism and' mounted on trunnions, square block supports for said trunnions set in the casing adjacent its upper edge, and a cover for said casing retaining said supports in position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALLEN LooMIs.

Witnesses:

GEORGE L. MGCAIN, GEO. GoDDARD. 

